Got in a BIF from JNForsyth. 750 ml bottle into snifter, no bottle dating. Cork did not pop upon opening, extremely low carbonation. Pours fairly pitch black color with a minimal tan lace cap that reduces to nothing pretty quickly. Some very slight spotty lacing clings on the glass. Aromas of dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, toast, dark bread, molasses, light char, raisin, plum, light licorice, herbal, and roasted earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of dark/roasted malt and light-moderate dark fruit notes; with good strength. Taste of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, toast, dark bread, molasses, light char, raisin, plum, light licorice, herbal, and roasted earthiness. Fair amount of herbal/roasted bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, toast, dark bread, molasses, light char, raisin, plum, light licorice, and herbal/roasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roasted malt and light-moderate dark fruit flavors; with a good roasted bitterness/sweetness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Minimal carbonation and fairly full bodied; with a very smooth, creamy, and lightly slick/chalky mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is well hidden with only a small warming present after the finish. Overall this is a very nice Imperial stout. All around good complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roasted malt and light-moderate dark fruit flavors; and very smooth to sip on even with the lacking carbonation. A very enjoyable offering.

Thick oily black with oatmeal colored head. Left great lacing. Aroma was sweet, dried fruit, touch of booze. Taste was of a thick, full, stout with only a touch of the alcohol on the tonge, whcih surprised me a bit. Overall, and enjoyable Imperial Stout, quite different in the finish from the BBA version.

Appearance: Pours a fudge brown color capped by a head that would honor a Belgian; leaves plenty of splashy lacing around the chalice

Smell: Cocoa, dark fruit, toasted brown bread; a little chalky

Taste: Cocoa powder and toasted brown bread, up front, with earthy hops developing in the middle; ; after the swallow, hints of dark fruit and chalk appear, with the cocoa flavors lingering underneath; dry finish, like an Irish stout

Mouthfeel: Medium body with moderate to high carbonation

Overall: Interesting how light this beer is for a 9% ABV; it has elements of Belgian (mouthfeel) and Irish (dryness) so it is hard to think of this as an American Imperial Stout (or a Russian Imperial Stout, which is how they characterize it on their website); if I don't think of the way they classify it I found that I liked it better

From a 06JUN13 visit to ABC.... After a Barleywine for round 1 with my sammich, I had two 12oz snifters of this for dessert, at a more reasonable $4.75 per.

It was deeply opaque, a dark, dense brown with a creamy mocha head. The topping was thin and fine, sticking mostly at the edges, with good lacing. It had a rich choco nose, with some roastiness; quite inviting... Another solid medium-plus body, and it was smooth, though I thought it could be chewier.

Had lovely choco/coffee notes with more roasty aspects. As it warmed, dark fruit arose, akin to choco-covered cherries. A solid floral character brought things to a solid finish. Let this one warm; it is quite well-made! Prosit!!

Decent look with a frothy thick tannish head, the body isn't really black but super dark brown, some bubbles rising to the top.

The smell is not great, it is sort of a watered down malt base, some slight sweeter alcohol bourbon notes, but there is some nice leather and musty notes that are nice, though not very appropriate to the style. Just not overly aromatic even when letting it warm up nicely.

The taste is a little better, and actually the creamy mouthfeel helps the beer come alive. It has a sort of Irish stout taste in its mouthfeel, a dry chocolatey and grainy flavor, though it isn't great that there is a very distracting after taste of metal and what only drinks like that taste when a tap line is not clean, though its out of a bottle. Overall a bit confusing in the flavor, some smatterings of bourbon and oak but no flavors are very well balanced.

Poured pitch black with a tan head. I could smell cherries, but only faintly, and not much else. I could taste chocolate, some vanilla, with a roasty finish. No cloying aftertaste and no noticeable alcohol burn. A pretty easy drinking imperial stout.

Pours black without much of a head on it. Loads of chocolate and molasses and a little bit of vanilla bubble up from the glass into the nose. The palate has cherries, chocolates, toffee and some coffee flavors throughout it. Has an average body that ends dry. Decent RIS; nothing crazy but not disappointing either.

A: The beer is jet black in color and poured with a finger high tan head that died down but consistently left a thin but dense head covering the surface.
S: There are light to moderate aromas of cocoa powder in the nose.
T: Similar to the smell, the taste has flavors of cocoa along with hints of roasted malts.
M: It feels a bit shy of medium-bodied and a bit thin on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation. A bit of dryness is noticeable.
O: This beer is very light-bodied compared to other beers in the style (it’s more reminiscent of a dry stout) and lacks much complexity in the taste. Nonetheless, the alcohol is well hidden from the taste.

A: Pours an opaque jet black in color with some hints of dark brown when held up to the light. The beer has a finger tall fluffy yet dense tan head that slowly reduces by about 50% leaving a thin (about 1/8 finger) even layer over the entire surface of the beer. Moderate to significant amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate aromas of dark roasted malts with lighter notes of cocoa and chocolate. Additionally there is a very light note of dark fruit (figs).

T: Moderate to strong flavors of dark roasted malts with lighter notes of cocoa and dark fruit sweetness (fig and black cherry). Light bitterness that lingers for quite a while.

M: On the lighter side of medium bodied with heavy amounts of carbonation. Slightly dry.

O: Not the easiest beer to drink, doesn't really seem to be similar to other beers in the style - something in the mouthfeel of this beer just does not work for me. I would not get this one again as there are much better examples of beers in this style readily available.

Appearance – Served a wonderful, almost pitch black color with a thin off white head. The head faded in a moderate amount of time to leave a lighter amount of lacing.

Smell – The aromas were heavy of chocolate and dark fruit with some coffee notes. The dark fruit was mainly cherry and fig in nature producing and overall very sweet aroma. Mixed with these were nice aromas of some whisky and booze as well overall giving a very nice smell.

Taste – The aromas that were detected were also present in the taste. The taste began with a good lot of cocoa and sweeter fruit flavors of cherry and some prune. As the taste advanced a light coffee and more roasty flavor meet the tongue. These were soon met with some sweeter fig and cherry flavors that either showed up (fig) or intensified (cherry) as the taste went on and in the end with a slight boozy flavor created a very pleasant warming/flavor on the tongue.

Mouthfeel – Creamy with a lighter level of carbonation. Very fitting for the style and quite nice for the stronger brew.

Excited to find this beer on a recent trip to the Philly area close to where I grew up. Nice roasted coffee and mocha aromas with a dark brown but opaque appearance. Tan head that dissipated rather quickly and produced nice lacing. More carbonation than expected from this style. Nice blend of roasted malt flavor combined with hints of dark chocolate, caramel, and raisins. The flavor and complexity of the bourbon barrel aging came through nicely in the aftertaste. Not as thick as what I would expect from an Imperial Stout.

from a bomber from the local Joe Canals...
nice pour, lots of head....lots and lots. unfortunately, too much carbonation is my ultimate conclusion. nose is thin, dark chocolate, and dark fruits, currants, raisins, nice,but thin.
taste is nice, but thin. Thats the problem, the mouthfeel is just not up to what i want from an Impy. ok, its just a 9%, so thats not an overreach, but for my taste, I'm still drinking an impy for a chewy mouthfeel. a lot of carbonation and a thin mouthfeel is a negative for me. I will retry because I want to like this beer. Especially coming from Fegleys.

Appearance is deep chocolate brown with a finger of tan head that had little retention but left some nice lacing anyway. There is a mild roasted note in the nose and the bite of the roasted malt is certainly present in the flavor. There is some alcohol sourness on the finish that does not quite go with the upfront flavor.

I paired this with some beer and cheese soup for a perfect light lunch.

I must have forgot to review this one from my trip last week. Anyway poured a darker brown not opague but almost. Decent lighter brown heading, about an inch thick and kind of fizzed out after a few sips. Very little lacing in the beginning.

Big thanks goes out to the individual who shared this one with me (forgot who it was)! Served from bottle into a Mikkeller taster flute. Poured a massively dark brown (almost black) with a one finger mocha colored head that subsided to a minimal amount slowly. Maintained nice lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of roasted malt, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, subtle coffee, and subtle caramel. The flavor was of roasted malt, dark chocolate, coffee, caramel, bitter hops, and subtle citrus. It had a medium feel on the palate with mild carbonation. Overall this was a pretty decent brew. As stated in previous reviews this one was a little hoppier than I was hoping for. Despite this fact the other flavors carried over quite well. This one was quite complex as well... Worth trying if it is around, but I wouldn't seek it out personally.

Nose is dark roast coffee, sweet chocolate, and flavorful citrus hops. The hops combine with the coffee to give off almost a cherry feel, but the citrus comes through in the end. Very sweet nose.

Very hop forward for the style. Citrus hits right away, even before the chocolate and coffee work in. Flavors combine for a lighter than expected finish, but again very hop forward. One of the hoppier stouts I've had.

Lighter feel than I expected and wanted, but may be by design with the hop character here.

Overall very well done. If you want a nice impy stout with good hop character, give this a try.